Gods Can't Be Real Can They?
by ladyofEomer
Summary: Elsa works for S.H.I.E.L.D. in a pretty normal job. But when Loki comes she makes a noble sacrifice, bringing her somewhere she never expected. A small Thor one-shot. Hope you like it!


**A/N: Just a quick Thor one shot. :) Hope you like it. And there are spoilers, so read at your risk if you haven't seen the movie. Enjoy! r/r!**

Elsa Wilkinson sat in front of her computer finishing up her game of 'Minesweepers' while singing along to "Do You Hear The People Sing" from the musical Les Miserables, which was blaring from her iPod in her jacket pocket. Her mind was absently ticking away at the menial tasks she was doing. It wasn't her ideal Saturday night, but it was the routine she was getting used to. Working as an Information Technologies monitor for S.H.I.E.L.D. never had good hours, but the pay was pretty decent. She yawned loudly and continued singing seeing no one else was in the room besides the random security guard who passed. Relationships and any life outside of work was out of the question. If she wasn't at the base then she was being watched. She wasn't the type to go and spill her guts but she could understand their precautions. Her nights usually passed like this. Dull and boring. However things seemed somewhat normal for being a top-secret base. The Tesseract was intact and soon Dr. Selvig would figure out how it ticked. Or that was what Nick Fury was hoping for.

Elsa didn't ask too many questions. She knew it would either get her fired or interrogated and maybe even thrown in jail. Even though she didn't ask, Elsa always had a knack for picking up on things. Certain cues would give her all she needed to put things together. It was obvious they were trying to find a way to reach another dimension through the cube. The nerd part of her was geeking out about the thought of finding new worlds but the more serious part was cautious. It could be dangerous. Who knew what they could unleash? Around midnight her shift changed and she grabbed her keys to head home when she heard Dr. Selvig talking with someone. She glanced around the corner of her small lab room and saw the unmistakable eye patch of Nick Fury. Raising an eyebrow she watched for a moment. Usually she was the last one in the test area thanks to her job but not today apparently. She couldn't pick out a lot of what they were saying but the expressions on their faces told her everything. Something was going wrong. A loud beeping nose brought her attention back to her computer while red lights began to flicker on and off in a warning. A large power surge from the Tesseract was forming, making Elsa react quickly. Trying to control the numbers from her station was impossible. It was as if the cube had a mind of its own. If the surge continued then the entire building would be coming down. Instantly she was up out of her seat and running towards the Director and the head Physicist.

"Sir! We have to leave now! The systems can't hold that much power." She explained as quickly as possible while catching a glimpse of Agent Barton from her side vision.

"Wait!" The director shouted back covering his vision from the now blinding light of the reacting cube. Elsa and the others did the same and soon the room was completely lit and began to shake with the power from the device.

"We have to leave!" Dr. Selvig insisted, clearly agreeing with Elsa. Then all of a sudden it stopped.

"Doctor…" Elsa trailed off, narrowing her sight in on a now kneeling and smoking man, standing on the platform in front of the Tesseract. He wore strange clothes, like ones you see in a comic book, only not as corny. Definitely not from the Earth.

"I am the god Loki." The invader announced, standing up to his full height and wielding a long spear in his hand.

"Loki? As in Thor's brother?" Dr. Selvig questioned looking from one member of S.H.I.E.L.D. to the other. Elsa couldn't take her eyes off of the new being. Something about him just screamed powerful, and most certainly dangerous.

"Ah yes," The man began as he stepped down to the floor. "You know my brother." He stated rather than asked. Elsa stood there in a daze, unable to hear what words were being spoken. Everything that she had grown up dreaming about and reading in her books was standing right before her in human form. It was fascinating.

A loud whack hit her ears and she quickly cleared her mind to find that Loki was using his spear to do something to Barton. His eyes changed color and his fighting stopped. Her eyes furrowed, not liking what she saw and secretly frightful of what Loki had done, when Barton turned to her with a threatening look and an arrow pointed straight at her chest.

"Agent it's me!" She raised her hands in surrender, not sure what else to do. These situations weren't in her job description and she was in no position to try and beat Barton. Loki had moved on to do the same to the doctor as he had done to Hawkeye leaving Nick Fury to grab the Tesseract. All Elsa could concentrate on was her impending death. She took a deep breath and spread her arms.

"If you have to do it then do it." She spoke, braver than she felt. Everyone had to die sometime, and today was as good of a day as any. Barton drew his bow further but was called by Loki.  
"Time to go my new friends." He quipped, meeting Elsa's eyes for a moment with his own angry gaze and just like that he, Barton and Selvig were gone.

Elsa caught her breath, happy to be alive only to see the director keeled over in pain.

"Director Fury!" She cried out, running to help him up. The power vault above them began to shake the building again. The red flares shot off and this time there was no stopping it.

"Sir you have to go." She shouted, looking up at the lighting and blue flashes above them. Nick Fury shook his head.

"We both have to." He ordered, holding his bleeding side.

"There is no time. If I can deflect the power surges to the backup generators then I can give everyone more time. We need you sir." She explained in the only logical way she could. It was the only way to give people a chance to get out.

"You will die." The director looked at her seriously. She nodded only once and helped him to the door.

"There's always another tech director. No one knows S.H.I.E.L.D. better than you. Now go!" She shouted, pushing him through the door and locking it behind him. It took her a moment to collect her thoughts, as she realized what she was doing before running back to her desk and quickly getting to work. The surges were beyond controllable, but she did what she could, and stalled for as much time as possible. As Elsa worked a tear fell down her cheek. Her life was about to be over and if her grandmother had been there then she would have said that Elsa hadn't even had a chance to live. Sure she was still young, for being 26 she hadn't done a whole lot in her life. However she didn't regret. She was dying in order to save others and through that it was well worth it.

Her heart pounded in her chest as her shaking fingers typed and clicked and adjusted knobs in a desperate attempt to hold the power for as long as possible. Charts and warnings flashed across her screen, making what she was doing that much more prevalent in her mind. She prayed that her sacrifice would save lives and that her family would understand. More tears fell as she worked harder but it was no use. The power was constantly building from the stores. There was nothing else that could be done. It was only a matter of minutes before the entire building would collapse or in this area's case, explode. Chunks of cement came tumbling down around her but she didn't care.

Elsa walked over to where the Tesseract's remaining source of energy was growing with more flashes and intense wind. Her eyes focused on the bright light as she waited for her death to come.

"I'm sorry mother." She breathed out and looked up at the ceiling for a moment. Her mind went to the director, hoping he made it out safely, followed by Loki.

"We need help. He needs to be defeated." Elsa spoke to herself. If his abilities were only shown in the brief display she saw earlier than the earth was in trouble. The computers cracked behind her and with one last tear Elsa's vision went black.

Groggily the technician tried to open her eyes. She couldn't understand why she wasn't dead, or why she felt so at peace.

"Maybe I am dead and this is heaven... or hell." Elsa whispered, almost fearful to open them completely.

"A human?" She heard a gruff voice ask with confusion. Slowly her eyes finally opened and she found herself staring up at a very tall and muscular man, clad in a red cloak and gray armor with what appeared to be a very large hammer in his hand.

"It would be in your best interest, female, for you to tell me how you managed to enter the realm of Asgard." His serious expression made her terrified while his blonde hair blew into his face from the trace amount of wind. She was nearly captured by his handsome features when his words made her think.

"Wait." Her eyes widened before she looked around in awe. "Did you say, Asgard?" Elsa gazed up and beyond the man with the hammer was a monolithic city that was the color of gold. Her mouth opened in shock while her breath caught in her chest.


End file.
